


Five Times Glorfindel was Admirable (and One Time He Wasn't)

by perfectworry



Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-20
Updated: 2015-12-20
Packaged: 2018-05-07 19:42:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5468609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perfectworry/pseuds/perfectworry





	Five Times Glorfindel was Admirable (and One Time He Wasn't)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lynndyre](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lynndyre/gifts).



**1\. Gondolin, F.A. 510**

Glorfindel defeated a balrog, but everybody knows about _that_.

**2\. Mithlond, S.A. 1600**

Glorfindel left Valinor for the second time on a ship sent by the Valar.

With him went the Blue Wizards, Alatar and Pollando. Glorfindel walked again with the easy grace of the Children of Illúvatar, but the Blue Wizards were old and bent. They cloaked themselves in the raiment of the grandfathers of men. Their foreheads creased with worry, and their backs bent under the weight of their care for Middle-earth. But their eyes were clear, and they had the look of men who had once been tall and fair.

The three of them were sent not into Exile, but to aid in the mission of the Valar in the fight against Morgoth’s servant, Sauron.  Glorfindel was sent to this fight armed with a sword that sang with anticipation to fulfill its bloody destiny, and armor that glowed golden in the sunlight. These were crafted for him to replace the lost sword and broken shield he left behind in Gondolin.

But the Blue Wizards went unarmed. Each leaned on a staff set with a crystal, but neither carried sword nor spear. They were not warriors. 

The white ship bore them swiftly across the sea.

Glorfindel’s breath caught when he saw Middle-earth, still hazy and clouded in the distance. He ran to the prow to catch a glimpse of the land he loved so much he left Valinor again to protect it.

Laughing, he leapt from the prow to the white sand. The sea lapped at his boots, but Arda called him _home_.

**3\. Imladris, T.A. 2511**

Glorfindel found Elrond just where he expected him. The Lord of Imladris stood on a high balcony, watching silently towards the West. Soundlessly, Glorfindel climbed the stairs to join him.

He stood quietly beside his old friend, hands folded. Glorfindel followed Elrond’s gaze to the setting sun – and what lay beyond. Elrond looked out past the curve of the world.

Celebrain departed a year ago today, never to be seen again walking in the moonlit gardens of Imladris in winter or the beneath the golden boughs of Lothlorien in summer. The Last Homely House rang with silence, empty of her songs, and the laughter of her sons and daughter.

Elladan and Elrohir rode out to extract their revenge. Elrond let them go, to grieve as they would. Arwen stopped dancing through the halls, but walked as a shadow.

Elrond went on as he had always done. The doors of the Last Homely House stayed open to friendly travelers. He greeted visitors politely, and arranged provisions and safe passage. But even visitors could sense the grim mood that cloaked the whole valley in shadow. No songs were sung, and laughter was bitten short.

Glorfindel stood beside Elrond in silence. He asked nothing of his old friend, and Elrond gave no sign he noticed Glorfindel beside him.

The Sun sank deeper below the horizon, and the sky deepened from orange, to red, purple. The boldest stars kindled, and the moon rose behind them. Night fell completely before Elrond stirred.

He turned to Glorfindel. His expression was unreadable.

“Thank you,” he said, and he descended the stairs, leaving Glorfindel to watch the stars for just a moment longer. 

**4\. Last Bridge, T.A. 3081**

Frodo saw Glorfindel as a white flame of blazing light. The shard of the curse knife in his shoulder worked its steady way towards his heart, and he was cold, so very cold. Night and day lost all meaning as the substance and colors of the world faded to wispy grey. Dimly, he could hear his friends calling, but their high voices were difficult to hear, as though carried on a high wind from far away.

The crashing din in his head threatened to drown him, until over the roar he heard the clear sound of silver bells. 

Frodo looked up. His head ached, and his eyelids were heavy as lead. But he turned towards that sound as a flower turns towards the sun. Ahead of them on the road, a white light burned like a beacon. It outshone the Sun and Moon. To Frodo, the clear autumn sunlight appeared faded, but this new light shone ferociously.

On Weathertop, Frodo had seen the Wraiths for what they were: empty spaces in the shape of tall Men. They were not black like their cloaks and horses, but empty, the color of the Outer Void.

Later, Frodo would describe the light he saw as white, the color of starlight on silver, and he would never be satisfied with his description. Starlight poured through a tear in the Seen world, flowing in to fill the shape of an Elf Lord. 

  **5\. Minas Tirith, T.A. 3019**

Glorfindel couldn’t say what he imagined, when he prophesied to Eärnur that the Witch King would not fall by the hand of any man. Who had in them the power to defeat the Enemy’s captain? An Elf, he thought, one of those who had seen the light of the Two Trees in Valinor. The Nazgûl fled before him. One of the Istari could drive him back.

In his hubris, the chief of the Nine took his speech as prophecy, and the prophecy beyond it’s meaning, and he was undone by a Shieldmaiden of Rohan and a Hobbit of the Shire. Word spread of the Shieldmaiden’s valor in battle, and of her words to the Witch King: “No living man am I!”

Glorfindel knew the Hobbit. He walked with Meriadoc Brandybuck through the wilds beyond the edges of Rivendell, through danger into safety. But of the Shieldmaiden, he knew nothing.

He was reluctant to visit her in the Houses of Healing. What would he tell her? That he had foretold her coming? That he had not foreseen her? Both were true.

Glorfindel of Gondolin and Imladris had no need of shyness before the mightiest warriors of Middle-earth. He moved with ease among lords and princes, great warriors and noble women, but the question of the Shieldmaiden vexed him.


End file.
